In her late 70s she played The Emperor in Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980), making her the first person to essay the role. She wore heavy makeup, applied by Rick Baker, with chimpanzee eyes later superimposed onto her image, and a voice provided by Clive Revill. She was not credited in the film, so her identity was anonymous for many years. It was widely misreported that Elaine Alexander (Rick Baker's then wife) had appeared in the role, when in fact she was only used for makeup tests. Many years after her death it was confirmed that it was in fact Eaton that played the role.